News summary for November 12

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed members of the presidential council on the development of civil society and human rights, the Kremlin press service reported on Monday.

According to the press service, 15 members from the former council, were not appointed to the new council.

The new council has 39 members.

Vladimir Putin has suggested reorganizing the upgraded council for the promotion of civil society and human rights. He speculated that the council might decide to have a rotating presidium.

In his opinion certain issues arise how to go about the business of organizing the work of such a great number of participants to make the council effective and capable of influencing not only the president, but also the bodies of executive power and law enforcement.

MOSCOW – The presidential Human Rights Council has proposed to create a national electronic rights monitoring system in Russia.

Council Chairman Mikhail Fedotov believes that this system could be created under the Council’s auspices.

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin said it would be too early to create a joint investigation committee now.

“In fact, it is probably early to do this without solving a number of questions first,” Putin said a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights on Monday, November 12.

MOSCOW – President Vladimir Putin supported the adoption of the law on NGOs and foreign agents and said it would prevent interference in Russia’s internal affairs by other countries.

Speaking at a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights on Monday, November 12, Putin recalled that the law had evoked long and fierce debates but it is no different from similar laws adopted in other countries.

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin will take part in a Russia-European Union summit in December, press secretary to the president Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, commenting on media reports citing anonymous sources in the European Union that allege that Putin was not planning to go to Brussels.

GORKI – Russia and India are in talks on concluding a contract for building three more frigates, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting of the Cabinet.

GORKI – The Russian government will allocate 90 billion roubles for the development of the rural territories until 2020, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with his deputies on Monday.

“Today I signed a special document, the concept of a federal target program for sustainable development of rural territories from 2014 to 2017 and for a period until 2020, which is targeted at the creation of normal conditions of life in the rural districts,” he said.

GORKI – Schools for foster parents will be opened in all of Russia’s regions by 2015, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.

“Such organizations for training [foster parents] and supporting children must be established in all regions of this country. And it must be done at least by 2015,” he told his deputies.

MOSCOW – A group of Russian inspectors is to make an observation flighrt over the territory of Turkey within a period from November 13 to 16 in implementation of the international Open-Skies Treaty, an official at the Russian Defence Ministry's press-service and information department told Itar-Tass.

MOSCOW – Russia’s presidential air fleet will receive within next three years five new Russia-made aircrafts.

The Russian government has issued an order on budget investments in design and production of aircrafts for the federal state-owned Rossiya aviation detachment.

The budget will allocate 2.1 billion roubles for two An-148-100 EA and 8.85 billion roubles for three Tu-214 SR jets. The planes are to be produced by 2013 and 2015 respectively, the document published on the government’s site reads.

VOLGOGRAD – The first million barrels of oil has been produced at the Yuri Korchagin field in North Caspian, the press service of the Astrakhan Region Governor said on Monday, November 12.

The Yuri Korchagin field started commercial production of oil in April 2010. Vladimir Putin, prime minister at that time, press the button to start offshore drilling. The first million barrels of oil was produced in November 2012.

MOSCOW – The pension system development strategy until 2030 will be submitted to the government by December 1, Minister of Labour and Social Security Maxim Topilin said parliamentary hearings on Monday, November 12.

The draft law will raise the tariff for self-employed persons 2-2.5 times of the minimum wage rate in 2013-2014.

TBILISI – During meetings between Georgia’s Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili with leaders of the EU and NATO in Brussels, the parties will fix the country’s “steadfast aspiration for integration with those organisations,” Georgia’s Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili told reporters on Monday.

BRUSSELS – Georgia is seeking to improve the relations with Russia, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said here on Monday. Ivanishvili is currently on his first official foreign visit in Brussels.

“We are seeking to improve the relations with Russia. We hope that the Russian government is taking adequate measures for this purpose. The current situation in bilateral relations is unprofitable for Russia and Georgia,” he said.

MINSK – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is satisfied with the agreements on gas supplies from Russia.

The Belarusian leadership agreed with Russia “quite successfully on gas supplies for this year and 2013,” Lukashenko said in reply to questions of the students.

Speaking on the condition of the Ukrainian economy, the president noted that “it is worsening, because Kiev pays over 400 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres of Russian gas.” “Belarus receives Russian gas for 165 dollars on the border, there is some difference,” the president said.

BISHKEK – Kyrgyzstan will take over CSTO presidency after the Moscow summit in December of this year, the presidential press service said on Monday, November 12, after a meeting between Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Secretary-General Nikolai Bordyuzha.

KIEV – The opposition Batkivshchina party, the Vitali Klitschko’s UDAR party and the rightist party Svoboda said they would announce a joint plan of action against vote rigging in the recent parliamentary elections at a meeting in front of the Central Election Commission’s building on Monday, November 12.

However there is no unity in the opposition. Each of the three political forces wants to play its own game and join a coalition only as a senior member.